PlanetTogether

Production scheduling made by people who have run factories

PlanetTogether sells advanced planning and scheduling software, usually shortened to APS, to manufacturers that operate several plants. According to the company, it was built by people who have worked in manufacturing themselves, and it has supported customers for more than twenty years, including very large manufacturers. Its site now announces that it has been acquired by CAI Software and trades as CAI PlanetTogether.

What an APS system is for

APS software handles capacity planning, production scheduling and material requirements planning on top of the data in an existing ERP system. The vendor argues that this lets a manufacturer win sales through shorter production lead times, hold less inventory by matching output to demand, cut unit costs through more efficient runs, and make better decisions with a clear view of capacity and alternative scenarios. It aims at companies still scheduling complicated work with spreadsheets, where setups, retooling and missed deadlines pile up.

How a schedule gets built

The company describes a five-step flow. The system first pulls master data from an ERP system or from Excel. The planners then set optimization factors that set how much each rule counts, which fixes what a good schedule means for the business. The software produces an optimized schedule, planners make manual changes such as taking a machine offline or expediting an order, and finally the schedule is published and the scheduling data goes back to the ERP system so the shop floor can act on it.

Features mentioned

The tools include Gantt charts and boards for sequencing work, instant metrics, data synchronization, drag-and-drop rescheduling, scenario comparison, key performance indicators, throughput and inventory optimization, automated batching of setups and changeovers, and measures of conformance to schedule. The older pages describe it as lean, agile and capacity planning software with scalable per plant, per month subscriptions, and say it connects closely to SAP, Microsoft products and other supply chain software. Newer text speaks of connected operations, real-time visibility and preparing production planning for AI.

Starting small

PlanetTogether proposes an incremental route to subscribing. A free discovery call comes first, then a proof of concept in which its engineers set up the customer's core operations so the customer can judge the fit and the return before committing to a monthly or yearly plan. The company says this suits operations managers, IT staff, planners and finance alike, and that it aims to show scheduling gains within weeks.